


Tired

by PureEdge (reddysteddy)



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Death, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Manipulation, Self-Harm, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26411320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddysteddy/pseuds/PureEdge
Summary: Wels stops by Star Gazers to sleep for the night. There is a secret inside the shop that he discovers the hard way.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 52





	Tired

wels stepped onto one of the stone paths of the shopping district. he had spent more time than he would care to admit at lookie lookie at my bookie getting his armor back to its godly state. the cause of his visit definitely did not involve a fall into lava, nor did it cause him to rage quit, and he _certainly_ did not watch his gear despawn in front of his eyes. absolutely not.

a sky full of stars and a cool breeze greeted him. he wondered exactly how long he had spent in the store. he reached under his armor and felt around for his sleeping bag, but could not find it. out of the corner of his vision he noticed someone waving their arm at him from the doorway of a building that had not been there a few days ago. he raised his hand to wave back before he realized who it was, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

"Bdubs?", he said with disbelief. the tan skinned man's pupils were more dilated than usual, but it was unmistakably him. The architect grinned at him from ear to ear.

"Didn't expect me to be online at this time of night, di'ja?", he said cheerfully. wels felt an amused smile tug at the corners of his lips. they both knew what sort of reputation he had- every time the sun was more than halfway below the horizon bdubs was asleep. even in places where he should not know what time it was, such as underground or in the nether, he always knew when to fall unconscious and when to wake up, as if he had a clock built into his heart. he motioned at the knight to join him inside his new shop.

"Come on in, lemme show ya somethin'". with that, he disappeared behind the dark oak door.

wels followed him into the torch illuminated space. it was cramped inside, but he had come to expect that of the detail oriented builder. his friend stood behind a pale counter, elbows rested against its glossy veneer.

"Welcome to Star Gazers. The idea of this place is whenever night time comes and you don't have a place to rest you just come in here, throw a diamond over the counter, and sleep 'til morning", he explained.

"Funny you should find me right now", wels began. "I was just searching for my travel bed an' came up empty handed". bdubs chuckled at that.

"So you could use a place like this, right?". wels nodded. "Well that's perfect then". he held out his palm, waiting for something to be placed inside of it. the knight handed him a diamond from his pocket. the architect accepted it and turned on his heel until he was facing a door near the back of the main room. "Right this way".

he led him down a short hallway to a room that starkly contrasted everything else that wels had been shown. a small area only a few blocks in every direction sat on the other side of an empty entryway. the floors, walls, and ceiling were a spotless white. the only piece of furniture was a bed large enough for one person to fit in. the air smelled faintly of chlorine.

"Just go in there, get comfy, and nap for a bit", bdubs said. wels hesitated for a moment. the room looked clean and tidy, yet something about it seemed off. "Go on", bdubs said a little impatiently. "What are ya waiting for?". a hand patted him on the back, gently urging him forwards. the knight finally obeyed.

once he was through the doorway he turned to face the shop owner. what he was met with instead was a meter of concrete being slid between him and the rest of the building, sealing him inside. there was no sign that there had ever been an exit. muffled foot steps on the other side of the wall grew quiet, indicating that the knight was all alone. he turned towards the bed he had paid for. it sat there, just as unassuming yet ominous as before.

 _only one thing to do now_ , wels thought to himself. he strode towards the billet. now that he was less than a step away from it he was able to see the edge of a quilt tucked beneath the cushion near the headboard. he considered pulling it back so that he could lay under it, but decided against it. he turned until his back was facing the bed and gently slid his armor off of himself and placed it against a corner of the room. he sat on the edge of the mattress and swung his legs on top of it. it was squishier than a lot of surfaces he had laid on. if he was correct then it would prove to be better for his back than most, too. he fell back until his head was resting on top of the pillow. the cushy material billowed around his face as if he had sunk into a cloud. it was cool and soft and after a few moments of stillness wels found himself drifting off.

\---

when wels woke up he felt what could only be described as refreshed. he spent a few extra minutes enjoying the comfort of the bed. the only sound that could be heard in the cozy room was his own breathing. then he smelled the sodium chloride and decided that it was time to get up.

after stretching the stiffness out of his limbs and dawning his guards he approached the slab of the wall that he knew had been a doorway last night. he rapped his knuckles against it, sharp and clear but not rough enough to cause concern. he waited for a response, listening to the pulses of his heart to gauge how much time had passed. after about a minute he knocked again.

"Bdubs?", he shouted. his own voice bounced off of the walls, back into his ears. a couple minutes later. still nothing.

"BDUBS!". his ears rang at the volume. no sound responded to him on the other side.

wels reached into his inventory for his tools only to find that they were all missing. in fact, everything was gone. the only items he still held were the pieces of armor on his body. his teeth grit with frustration.

he walked backwards until his calves hit the wooden frame of the bed. he ran forwards, trying to ram himself against the wall. if nothing else at least his death message would appear in chat, alerting someone that things were not as they should be. once he reached the concrete surface he found himself on the other side of the room as if he had passed into a space exactly like it. wels steeled his mind, refusing to be give up his escape that easily. he dropped to the floor and turned onto his side, pressing his ear to the ground, listening for any hollow spots. to his dismay it seemed to be solid all the way through. he flopped onto his back and stared up, trying to gauge the distance between the floor and the ceiling, but found it was too high to reach with his hands. the knight yawned. despite only being awake for such a short period he felt a wave of drowsiness swell inside his chest. it was becoming harder to keep his eyes open. without thinking he allowed himself to succumb to his own lethargy. after what seemed like less than a second his eyes fluttered open. he did not remember climbing into the bed, yet somehow he had woken up in it.

\---

in between spells of rest wels found himself craving stimulation. at first he started out lightly, laying in one spot on the floor until it grew warm, then rolling over to a cool part, humming and singing hymns to himself, tapping his fingers against the smooth surface of whatever made up the floor. all too quickly he grew weary of his own voice. the repetitive activities were simply not enough to keep his mind in a lucid state.

he began to have vivid dreams of the world without him. he watched his home that he had spent ages building from the ground up be reduced to shambles without anybody to operate it. he could see the other hermits going about their day to day lives unchanged as if his existence had meant nothing to them. the prospect he dreaded the most was when a man who looked unsettlingly similar to himself would step though one of the countless nether portals that dotted the land and torment the ones he loved dearly. this figure had a variety of methods. sometimes he would meticulously manipulate hermits, letting them believe that he was wels all along until they trusted him among their ranks. other times he would wield his sword and simply slice down anything in his path. one way or another he always got what he wanted.

wels startled awake, heart pounding against his ribs. at times he could believe that everything was fine, he could leave whenever you wanted to and someday he would be back in his own home. right now he was sober enough to realize how dire his situation was. he tried to recall how much time had passed since he first entered this place and realized with horror that he could not.

the knight carelessly threw off his armor and dug his nails into the skin of his arms. the pressure built and built until it flooded his mind, not letting him think of anything else. when he calmed down there were deep marks in his body from where he had harmed himself, some of them oozing slivers of blood. he laid there panting, not bothering to clean it up. it did not matter. he had already slept in there. if he died he would simply wake back up on the mattress, no closer to escaping. if he was allowed to die.

\---

despite his state of hopelessness, wels still tried to spend as much time as possible outside of the bed. the floor was not comfortable, but he oddly felt more at ease laying on it. no matter how hard he tried he would always wake up in the billet one way or another. always the same position- head on pillow, body under blanket, face towards ceiling. at one point he had tried to destroy it- rip the blanket to pieces, throw the mattress on the floor, force himself to vomit on the pillow. signs of his struggle remained- aching fingers, irritated throat, numb limbs, smell of ejecta mingling with the chlorine in the air- but the piece of furniture was indestructible.

\---

one day wels woke up and felt himself moving. he was laying still, but the bed was being slid along somewhere. the sound of rushing water filled his ears. he dared not open his eyes or give any other indication that you he was awake. suddenly the movement stopped. shoes against wood could be heard.

"How ya doin'?", a voice asked. he recognized it, but could not place his finger on who it was. a warm hand was placed on his chest, causing him to shiver.

"I know, you're confused. But don't worry". he could hear the person smiling.

"Just go back to sleep". before he could protest or try to resist wels obeyed.

\---

the knight became aware of sounds, yet found himself unable to move or see anything. a part of himself knew that he was not truly awake either. a wave of unbearable heat swept over him, startlingly similar to that time he accidentally lit himself on fire.

"Feels good, doesn't it?". it was the same voice from earlier.

"All nice and toasty". they sounded... wistful?

"Must be nice. Enjoy it while you can". just as soon as it appeared the voice was gone. a strange feeling slid along wels' skin, as if another person were being piled on top of him.

"Get snuggled real close. C'mon, don't be shy". he could feel a set of eyes on him, watching his every move as if he could do anything.

"I just figured, wouldn't it be nice". nice?

"Sleep is such a wonderful thing. You get to spend a big chunk of your day not having to think of anything. Nothing can bother ya. Nobody, either". a soft clacking of boots against stone joined the voice.

"I found a spell. Had to make a shady deal with some fellas in blue and white, but I got what I wanted". oh, how proud they sounded.

"A way to sleep forever. Unbothered, unhurt, unfeeling... practically unliving". a chill ran through wels despite the heat.

"Of course I couldn't just hoard this to myself. That would be greedy. And I ain't no Midas". _i wish you were_ , the knight wanted to scream.

"I had to share it. I had to be there to watch people get it". his gut churned at the smugness in their tone.

"And here we are. Everyone gets to sleep forever. Isn't that great? Almost immortality". the muted, stony clacking could be heard again.

"I don't know if any of you can hear ol' Bdubs right now or not. Doesn't mean a lot to me either way. But if ya can, be sure to have good dreams of me. I deserve it".

\---

the footsteps reached wels' ears one final time before he was left alone again. he and however many people he was stuck with. slowly the feeling of the person's weight on him dissipated. the burning dulled to a low prickling. even the fear and anger pounding in his head slowly vanished. just as wels had come to expect, he felt tired.

that was his last thought before he fell asleep and never woke up.


End file.
